Freezing, CIP & Conveying

Short answer: These machines are chosen from the process lines they serve, not on their own. Work out what each line needs — how much product to freeze or cool, which surfaces to clean, how much steam, which machines to connect — and then decide whether each need is met by a dedicated unit or a shared system.

Machines and lines in this group

Machine or line	What it does	Choose it when
Industrial Food Freezer	Quick-freezes processed food in a spiral, tunnel or fluidised bed	You sell frozen products or need frozen storage before packing
Food Vacuum Cooler	Cools suitable foods fast by evaporating some of their water	Cooked foods, baked goods or produce must be cooled quickly before chilling or packing
Clean-in-Place System	Circulates cleaning solutions through closed tanks and pipes	You run liquid or semi-liquid products in closed equipment
Hygienic Conveyor	Moves product between machines at matched speed	You are linking machines into a line or replacing manual transfer
Steam Generator for Food Processing	Supplies steam to kettles, steamers, blanchers and heat exchangers	You need steam without a large central boiler house

How to choose

1. List the demand from each process line. Collect product flows, temperatures, cleaning circuits and steam users from every line, current and planned. Utility equipment is sized on the sum, with allowance for peaks.
2. Size freezers on product, not on the room. Freezing time depends on piece size, shape, packaging and entry temperature. Codex guidance treats quick freezing as complete only when the thermal centre of the product reaches the frozen storage temperature after stabilisation, so the freezer must achieve that at your hourly output.
3. Find which utility limits the plant. A freezer or vacuum cooler that falls behind stops the line before it; a steam generator that cannot meet peak demand slows every cooker. Size these against peak demand, not average.
4. Design for cleaning. Clean-in-place suits closed equipment; open equipment such as conveyors is cleaned by hand or with foam. Industry guidance from EHEDG covers both CIP installations and belt conveyors, and is a useful checklist when comparing designs.
5. Match conveyors to product and hygiene zone. Belt type, lift, transfer points and cleaning access matter more than length. Gentle transfers reduce breakage of fragile products.
6. Plan for growth. Leave room in refrigeration, steam and CIP capacity, or space for a second unit, if more lines are expected.

Vacuum cooling and quick freezing are often confused. A vacuum cooler brings warm, porous products such as bread, cooked rice or leafy produce down to chilling temperature quickly, and some product weight is lost as water evaporates. A freezer takes product below freezing for frozen storage. Some plants use both: vacuum cooling after cooking, then freezing or chilled packing. Ask for a trial with your product if you are unsure which suits it.

Common mistakes

• Buying a freezer by belt area or room size without checking the time needed for your product’s core to freeze.
• Sizing a steam generator on the average load while several cookers start at once.
• Adding CIP after installation, when piping was never designed to drain and return properly.
• Connecting machines with conveyors that are hard to clean underneath or at transfers.

For lines where freezing and utilities are part of the design, see the frozen dumpling plant, the ready meal plant or our turnkey projects page.